Lufthansa flight cancellation due to pilot strike
On 2nd of April 2014, a three days
duration of pilot strike were carry out by 5,400 staff from Lufthansa group
towards the recent pay cut and retirement plan on pilots. During the 3 days
strike, Lufthansa have to cancel a massive 3,800 flight which affecting at
least 425,000 passengers who had booked the air ticket.
According to an article in Bloomberg, these 3 days
strike could cost Lufthansa around 75 million loss in profit, in fact this was
not the first time Lufthansa facing the walkout of stuff, In 2010, 2,000 flight
cancellation due to staff walkout which cost 48 million euro loss to Lufthansa
as well. The main reason behind these 3 days strike is because of pay cut and
scrapping off the early retirement plan that was implemented for pilot when
they first join.
According to an article from The Guardian, mass
walkout were rare in Germany and when it actually happens the public were
usually supportive but this time they were bemused by the action of the pilots
from Lufthansa as they feel that passenger were held as hostages or tools in
order for them to get higher pay check.
Based on what I’ve read through those articles, I’m
convinced that Lufthansa have the responsible for this unfortunately incident
happened which is not just causing inconvenience to the passengers but in fact
it actually affecting the image and reputation of Lufthansa, other airlines are
taking this opportunity to attract those affected customer to choose their
airline instead of Lufthansa. Why I’m saying that Lufthansa have responsible is
because this is not the first time they having staff walkout due to cutting
cost or pay cut, it happens in the year 2010 and 2012 as well. So that could be
their references before they make any decision especially regarding the payment
for the staff.
Lufthansa should have negotiate and come to an
agreement with the labor union first before they made the decision which have
upset so many staff. According to the article from Bloomberg, a Lufthansa pilot
can retire at the age of 55 years old, get paid 60% of the last salary until
the age of 63 years old which is the legal retirement age, due to this policy,
more and more pilot requested to fly longer hours destination to accumulate
more mileage to increase their salary by the age of 55 years old. The annual
salary of a Lufthansa pilot stands at 260,000 euros a year, for the past 2
years they been having discussion with Lufthansa through pilot union to
increase 10% more but could not come to an agreement. Instead Lufthansa offered
5.2 percent plus a one-time sum and dropped a demand to tie raises to financial
performance for three years. Even if they wanted to implement certain policy
they should carry it out slowly, and from there they would get the reaction
from their staff whether they like the new policy or not, because by not doing
that you are actually presenting them the opportunity of having a protest or a
massive walkout which presenting to the public that your company is not good at
dealing and handling with your staff.
I hope that in future whenever Lufthansa want to
make some crucial decision they would really seek advice and look through what
had happen before so that they don’t regret it later.
Link:
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20140408-703629.htmlhttp://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/03/31/uk-lufthansa-strike-idUKBREA2U0TS20140331
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2014-04-02/lufthansa-pilot-strike-grounds-jets-in-airline-s-worst-standoff.html
http://www.dw.de/lufthansa-strike-ends-pilots-pay-dispute-stays-open/a-17542968
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-03-31/lufthansa-prepares-for-fallout-from-a-big-pilot-strike
